When capturing a landscape or other distant objects through a nearby object such as a fence, proper composition can be difficult. If the foreground's opening (e.g., the spacing between fence posts) is smaller than the camera's entry pupil, it may not be possible to record the distant scene as intended.
In addition to attenuation of the intended scene, the foreground object may contribute unintended radiance to the image. Also, in addition to reducing an image's aesthetic quality, its utility for forensic purposes may also be reduced.
Surveillance cameras, for instance, may accumulate paint on protective covers that creates a blind spot over part of the scene. Indeed, placement of surveillance cameras is restricted by the need to avoid nearby occlusions.
However, it has been identified that thin occluding objects, or thick occluders near the periphery of the camera's field of view, can be “seen through” with a sufficiently large aperture (e.g., wherein the aperture is larger than the occlusion). When focused on a distant scene, the large aperture induces a blur disc (e.g., the shape of the blur can be resultant of the shape of the aperture) at the occluders depth which is larger than the object, meaning that some rays of light from the background can still reach the entrance aperture of the lens and ultimately contribute to the exposure of the sensor's pixels. However, methods used to clarify the background have been impractical for both consumer photography or surveillance systems without specially trained operators as it is assumed that the foreground object does not contribute significant exposure to the image, and all require either manual user intervention or the provision of multiple images with specific settings.